Inducing weight reduction in human beings by effectively reducing the size of the stomach cavity is not a new procedure. It has been accomplished in various ways, with varying degrees of difficulty, and with varying results.
For example, "stapling" of the stomach walls together along a line which reduces stomach cavity size is a well known surgical approach to combatting obesity. Since it involves surgery there is an element of danger, of course. It is also a relatively expensive procedure. Nevertheless, thousands of these operations are performed each year in the U.S. alone.
Another approach is disclosed in Berman et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,133,315, issued Jan. 9, 1979, on a METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR REDUCING OBESITY. As described in this patent, stomach cavity size reduction is effected by inserting an inflatable bag or balloon into the patient's stomach through the esophagus, with an inflation tube extending out through the mouth. This device remains in place, according to the inventors, and can be inflated or deflated over a period of days or weeks to vary stomach cavity size as desired. When suitable results are achieved, the bag is removed through the esophagus with the inflation tube.
An improvement on the method disclosed in the Berman et al patent has also been practiced by Doctors Ole Gyring Nieben and Henrik Harboe at the University of Copenhagen's Hvidovre Hospital. Their approach has been to inflate a rubber balloon in the patient's stomach after inserting it in uniflated form through the esophagus. There the similarity to Berman et al. ends, however. The Nieben- Harboe method involves inflating the balloon with gas and then disconnecting the tube, withdrawing it from a valve on the balloon which closes automatically when the tube is pulled out. The balloon stays inflated for 7 to 21 days. When it collapses it passes out of the digestive track and is excreted.